A brand-new, bright white jar appeared in the same space as the surrounding mud walls and earthen stove; the jar was round and plump, its glaze smooth and intact.
Well, to be honest, as Xia Xianxian watched this jar appear on the stove, she felt it was somewhat magical and out of place.
“This jar is nice, it’s just…”
Xia Xianxian glanced at Meng Wenzhou, her unspoken words perfectly clear.
“It’s fine. It’s not a valuable jar, just relatively new. We don’t have many guests over anyway, so we can just lock it away in the cabinet.”
Meng Wenzhou patted Xia Xianxian’s shoulder.
“Let’s go see today’s reward.”
With Meng Wenzhou’s endorsement, Xia Xianxian felt much more at ease. Just as she was about to open the jar to check today’s reward, a faint buzzing sound of electricity appeared in her mind.
“…bzzz…”
“Uh, Tongtong, you’re here.”
【Yes, Host.】
The electronic voice sounded coolly in their ears, and Xia Xianxian felt inexplicably guilty.
“Tongtong, I like this jar very much. It’s just, well…”
Xia Xianxian covered her face with her hands and blurted out the rest of the sentence without stopping for breath.
“It’s just that the house we’re living in now is too run-down; this jar makes it look like I stole it from somewhere.”
【…】
【This jar is consistent with the era you are currently living in. The system will not distribute items beyond this era, so please feel free to use it, Host.】
While Xia Xianxian was arguing with the system, Meng Wenzhou had already approached the stove, and the secret within the jar was revealed.
It turned out that what was hidden under the tin lid was oil.
Rich olive oil was stored in the jar, and the oil was clear and bright.
As the lid was opened, the mouth of the jar vibrated slightly. A small amount of oil clung to the walls, but before long, it dripped back down, returning to its original state. One could tell at a glance that this jar would not leak any oil stains.
“Oh, is this olive oil?”
Xia Xianxian looked at the yellow-green oil in the jar. Its texture was clear, and when she leaned in close, she could smell a faint fruity fragrance.
“Tongtong, you really are our good partner and the Host’s great helper; you are simply an all-purpose treasure chest essential for home life!”
Just moments ago, she and Meng Wenzhou were discussing repurposing brown sugar to make handmade soap, and the next moment, the system proactively reminded them to draw a prize.
This was a total floodgate opening!
She spewed out these rainbow-colored praises one after another, talking non-stop, making the system’s electromagnetic sound ‘buzz’ even louder.
“Now that the oil problem is solved, how do you plan to handle this wood ash?”
Looking at the piles of wood ash on the floor, Meng Wenzhou roughly understood that it needed to be used for extraction, but he still had to ask Xia Xianxian how to proceed.
“Hmm, I used to buy pre-matched kits online.”
“For the sodium hydroxide used to make handmade soap, I remember it can be extracted by adding water to wood ash, but I can’t quite recall the specific proportions.”
Xia Xianxian patted her head, seemingly recalling something, and said uncertainly.
“The extract seems to be a deeper shade of brown.”
“That’s what the videos I scrolled through seemed to show.”
“Alright, then we’ll just add water and experiment little by little.”
Meng Wenzhou nodded. Knowing the desired result made things much easier.
Seeing Xia Xianxian yawn, he turned his head and asked, “Are you tired? Do you want to go back and lie down for a while? I’ll clean up here.”
“I’m alright. It’s too boring by myself in the room; I’d rather stay here and keep you company while you work.”
It must be said that Meng Wenzhou was much more efficient than Xia Xianxian; the messy kitchen became tidy in no time.
This must be the benefit of having a clean-freak.
He handled housework with ease.
Xia Xianxian sat on a chair, tilted to one side, with the brown sugar water and snacks that Meng Wenzhou had prepared for her laid out in front of her.
While bringing the cup to her lips, she said lazily, “It’s good that you’re keeping me company, otherwise I don’t know how much work I’d have to do every day now.”
After finishing, she summarized for herself.
“Your transmigration is truly good news for me!”
Meng Wenzhou, who was tending the fire at the stove, was almost amused to anger by her.
“So, as long as you get a meal to eat, I have to be the one to wash the bowl, right?”
Gritting his teeth, he asked, “Then do you guess I think this is good news?”
Xia Xianxian had just put down her cup when she heard Meng Wenzhou’s retort.
She immediately unwrapped a White Rabbit candy from nearby and held it to Meng Wenzhou’s lips.
Her delicate fingers were close to his mouth, and the sweet milky fragrance mixed with Xia Xianxian’s scent, which smelled absolutely wonderful.
Seeing that Meng Wenzhou didn’t open his mouth, Xia Xianxian pushed the candy forward again.
“Here!”
Only then did Meng Wenzhou slowly lower his head and take the candy into his mouth.
“Hehe, now that you’ve eaten my candy, you can’t say that anymore~”
Xia Xianxian watched with a grin as Meng Wenzhou took the candy.
As she pulled back, her lips accidentally brushed against Xia Xianxian’s fingertips. The warm sensation was like an electric current, crawling across both of them.
That was Xia Xianxian’s finger just now. Thinking of this, Meng Wenzhou’s breathing could not help but quicken.
Clap!
The half-closed door was pushed open forcefully by Meng Dazhu.
“Zhouzi! Zhouzi!”
“Uh, Zhouzi, Sister-in-law.”
Seeing the two people in the kitchen standing so close together, he immediately retreated a few steps, feeling embarrassed.
He offered a dry greeting.
“I, I’ll come back later.”
After saying that, he turned around and ran outside.
“Wait…”
Seeing Meng Dazhu walking away, Meng Wenzhou had to stand up and stop him.
The two men stood in the middle of the courtyard.
Inside the kitchen, Xia Xianxian looked at her right hand, somewhat dazed.
His lips seemed much softer than they looked.
“Zhouzi, this, I…”
Meng Dazhu, standing in the courtyard, felt a bit awkward.
Country gates were always left open, and nobody had the habit of knocking. Everyone who came to visit just pushed the door open. How could Meng Dazhu have expected to encounter something like this in broad daylight?
He decided he would definitely ask clearly before pushing open the door whenever he visited someone with a wife in the future.
That was what Meng Dazhu thought to himself.
“What’s the matter?”
Seeing Meng Dazhu’s appearance, Meng Wenzhou knew he wouldn’t be coming into the house for a drink of water, so he decided to just talk in the courtyard.
“Oh, oh. It’s nothing, just asking if you’re going to the mountain with us this afternoon.”
To the mountain?
Meng Wenzhou pondered for a moment and remembered what it was about.
Seeing that Meng Wenzhou didn’t answer immediately, Meng Dazhu hurriedly said, “Uh, it’s fine, if you have something to do at home this afternoon…”
Meng Wenzhou, having remembered, directly interrupted Meng Dazhu.
“Sure, after lunch, we’ll meet at the usual spot.”
Having mistakenly thought Meng Wenzhou wouldn’t go, Meng Dazhu had been racking his brains on how to explain it to Meng Yang, only to hear what Meng Wenzhou said.
He chuckled dryly and replied, “Oh, oh, good.”
After seeing off Meng Dazhu, Meng Wenzhou paced back to the kitchen.
Sure enough, she was already gone.
The kitchen was still as it had been before he went to the courtyard, but the person was no longer there.
Meng Wenzhou slowly sat on the chair where Xia Xianxian had just been sitting, unconsciously rubbing the cup that Xia Xianxian had just used, his gaze drifting aimlessly toward the direction of the inner room.